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A La Carte (12/7)
- 12/07/10
- 19
Yesterday we went out and put ourselves through the yearly ritual of buying a Christmas tree. Those things aren’t getting any cheaper, are they? The local place had really nice trees but wanted $55 for them. After seeing how nice they were (and comparing gas prices to the distance we’d have to drive to get one for a lot cheaper) we caved. Sigh.
Liam Neeson and Aslan - Liam Neeson recently said some interesting things about portraying (the voice of) Aslan in the Narnia movies. STR comments: “Poor Liam Neeson. He can’t win. He probably feels like he has to distance himself from the narrow, Christian message of The Chronicles of Narnia by recreating Aslan for himself in a more palatable, relativistic form to avoid upsetting the culture at large. And why not, if all that matters is what a text means to us, rather than what the author intended that text to mean?”
The Deadly Fruit of Gender Selection - CBMW writes about a sad case. “What happens when a left-wing academic persuades parents to ‘reassign’ the gender of one of their children? A recent story out of the United Kingdom tragically illustrates the answer. It also displays with stunning clarity the infinite chasm between God's unfathomable wisdom and the utter foolishness of what the apostle Paul calls the wisdom of this age.”
A Must-Read - Aaron Armstrong recently reviewed Cruciform’s book Servanthood as Worship and declares that it is a must-read.
Like Monopoly in the Depression - This article in the Washington Post says that Settlers of Catan is the great boardgame of this generation. Which makes me wish I’d actually played it. We own it, but haven’t ever gotten 3 people who wanted to play it at the same time.
Books vs E-Books - This is an interesting infographic from Newsweek. It does some comparing and contrasting between books and e-books.
Food-Court Messiah - I posted this once before, but people keep sending it to me, telling me I need to put it in A La Carte. So I’ll do so again. And gladly, because it’s really good.
Glory follows afflictions, not as the day follows the night but as the spring follows the winter; for the winter prepares the earth for the spring, so do afflictions sanctified prepare the soul for glory. —Richard Sibbes
I am a follower of Jesus Christ, a husband to Aileen and a father to three young children. I worship and serve as a pastor at 
Releasing on April 1, The Next
Published in 2008, this book
This is a guide that calls men,
This review of the bestselling
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This is a guide written
Comments (19)
I saw Neeson in a terrible version of Pilgrim’s Progress years ago. Maybe he’s distancing himself from that?
Tim, you sound a little desperate for friends in your Catan comments. Anyone in Toronto should definitely help a brother out - Settlers is quite the fascinating game. While I don’t really sympathize with the article writer’s comments about monopoly being outdated and Settlers being the best thing for a new generation, I do agree that it is very fun and provides a good twist to the old favorite.
Oh Tim. If you are ever in the Minneapolis area, we should get together to play some Settlers. Or if I’m in your area, I’ll come over. Playing great board games are such a fun way to be with friends, but it does take time to find people who enjoy playing games that a mildly complex like Settlers…..
If you want to play Cataan, I much prefer the “Cities and Knights” expansion to the original base game.
If there is an Ikea near you, you should plan on getting a tree there next year. Here in Calgary we pay $20, it is a beautiful tree and they give you a $20 gift certificate for Ikea and donate the $20 to the food bank. We now find out when they are doing it and plan our week around it! It is usually the last week of November.
Settlers of Catan??!?NERD ALERT! NERD ALERT! NERD ALERT!
Hope this isn’t a new revelation. Likes to Read: Check Has a job with computers: Check
Though personally I think being a nerd should be worn as a badge of honor.
Settlers of Catan truly is “thebomb.com/awesome.” Some people find it too complex and hard to understand. For those people, let me recommend a game called “Ticket to Ride.” It’s super fun and is the “gateway drug” to Settlers and many other strategy board games.
Monopoly, Life, and most card games don’t involve enough thought and skill. Those games are all way too static. With Settlers hex pieces, the board is completely different each time.
Anytime you play and happen to lose, just remember this verse found in Proverbs 16:33 -The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD.
Settlers is a great game! Played it the first time in the German version. My oncle was so hooked, he translated the whole game and we’ve been playing it ever since.
Tim, big families are great. Eldest of seven, I always find enough friends to play the game!
We have the same problem with Settlers, not having three people to play. They make a two-player card game that my husband and I really love! And now there is a dice game too that you can even play solitare…
My wife and I love Catan. The problem is that it sounds really boring when you try and describe it to someone. “No, really, come play this fun game with us. You get to build roads and trade natural resources!” Thankfully, most of our friends to whom we have introduced the game love it.
Anyone can come to our house and play Settlers whenever you’re in Colorado! The best part is buying the additions to keep making it more and more complicated. You can add Seafarers and also Knights & Cities. I’ve even played where you make two (or four) separate islands and have a teamate across the table from you. The two of you can’t be on the same island, but you can share your resources. Never the same game twice.
Settlers of Catan (and Settlers of Canaan, if you want a “Christian” version) is a good game, but many other fine board games exist. For some outstanding examples, check out the Board Game Geek recommendations for 2010. You won’t go wrong with any of these:
http://www.boardgamegeek.com/wiki/page/Board_Game_Gift_Guide_2010
Thanks for the shout-out on the Servanthood as Worship review, Tim!
You know, if you moved to a certain area of Rexdale you’d have some game-loving neighbours at your disposal…
The man featured in the article on gender reassignment wrote an autobiography called As Nature Made Him: the boy who was raised as a girl. His name was actually David Reimer, he had an identical twin brother who committed suicide two years before he did. I remember reading about David in a graduate level Neuroscience book where his case was presented. The book never mentioned the rest of the story unfortunately. Money probably leaped into the case because David had a twin who could serve as the ‘control’.
Thanks for posting the Food-Court Messiah. I am probably one of the few who have not seen this, and I really cried as I watched. Beautiful! I pray the singers know the ONE to whom they were singing about and that the mall-goers do too.
Buy the iPad version and your kids will play :).
My 7 year old beat me for the first time the other day. I was proud (and a bit chagrined :) ).
My wife and I actually play 2 player Settlers all the time! It’s so much fun to have so much board to play with. The problem is now when I play with 3 other people, the board feels so crowded! :)